


To Burn Instead

by Leni



Category: The Borgias (2011)
Genre: F/M, Sibling Incest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-23
Updated: 2014-10-23
Packaged: 2018-02-22 06:01:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2497181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leni/pseuds/Leni
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"And, to Lucrezia, her older brother has ever been the mightiest of men."</p>
            </blockquote>





	To Burn Instead

**Author's Note:**

  * For [izzidore](https://archiveofourown.org/users/izzidore/gifts).



> Written for Marlex at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/566631.html?thread=79584103#t79584103). Prompt: **any brother/sister, finding love in an unexpected place**.

Lucrezia relishes the feeling of strong arms around her, his hands meeting to close under her breasts. She has known other touches, other lovers, but none has given her this sweet contentment, this reassurance that she will be protected. That she is worth more than riches and influences. That she is _treasured_ , and this time by someone with the might to keep her safe.

And, to Lucrezia, her older brother has ever been the mightiest of men.

Tonight she can't stop tracing the veins at Cesare's wrist, following their way up his arm until they dip into the inside of his elbow and disappear from sight. She thinks of these hands that she has known forever. Hands she's watched at games and at dinners, that she's held during so many dances. She thinks of these arms that have held her always, from a sniffling child with a skinned knee (and it was her fault, of course, for running away from Mother before she was done dressing her) to the wailing woman who'd mourned her murdered lover (and that had been her fault, too, for allowing the sweet boy to reach for the stars).

But Cesare isn't burned so easily. Cesare _knows_ what it is to be the sun, to be a Borgia.

Who else would know the truth of her, if not the one who'd seen the girl she'd been, before she stepped into the stage their family has built for themselves?

Who else would know him as the kindest of men, if not the girl he'd spoiled and petted and still guarded as his most beloved?

That thought makes her smile.

"What are you thinking, Lucrezia?" he asks against her ear, lifting one hand to caress the sensitive skin with the back of his nail.

"About us," she tells him, tracing the skin along his pulse and into the palm of his hand, letting her fingers thread with his. She rests their joined hands onto the space above her belly, where she can count her breaths by the rhythmic rise and fall beneath.

She likes that they can share this, too.

"Do you truly love me, brother?" she asks, turning slightly in their embrace to glance back at him.

He looks different to her, now that she's in his bed. More relaxed and more intense, all at once. Yet he's the same Cesare as always, keeping her close because he cares so much.

Her question makes him hesitate, but it is only for an instant. Then he is looking fondly down at her, shifting his arms to secure her more tightly against himself. "Of course."

Lucrezia grins. "I love you, too," she tells him, and the words are familiar, for all she never expected to love Cesare like this.

But it makes sense, doesn't it? Because Cesare is not like the men she's been given to, before; he's not even like the boy she chose for herself. The power of the papal throne won't impress him. The threat of her father's displeasure cannot intimidate him. They share the burden of their name; they wield its power to their own ends. They are joined, she and Cesare, by more than time and caring and sex....

They are _blood_.

"I'll love you always," she says, moving up to lean above him.

 _And I, you,_ she hears as he lunges up to catch her into a kiss.

"Always," she whispers again, and again, and again...

They are Borgias, and Borgias don't know how to settle for less.

 

The End  
22/10/14


End file.
